T.S.Eliot`un Murder in the Cathedral oyununda koşuk dil kullanımı

Abstract

49 SUMMARY In this study we shall try to deal with the use of verse in drama, mainly in Murder in the Cathedral (1935). The use of verse in drama starts very early in the history of English drama. We know that verse in drama reached its most popular and its highly developed stage during Elizabethan Age. In spite of the fact that verse has been used in plays written since then, little of it has had any lasting effect on the stage. In the 17th century Dryden and his contemporaries took up verse as a medium but this, again, was not something permanent. During the 18th century the ballad opera became popular and verse in drama turned out to be something closer to comedy and light theatre. In the 19th century, some poets like Tennyson, Shelly, Wordsworth and Coleridge tried to write plays in verse but the plays they wrote appealed to mind rather than eyes. Early in the 20th century we witnessed revival of verse in drama with T.S. Eliot and some others. But Eliot is one of the most important playwrights to use verse in drama. His peculiar use of dramatic discourse in his poetry led him to try his hand at writing plays in verse and with Sweeney Acronistes he proved his talent. But Murder in the Cathedral is a real success which turns out to be a landmark in T.S. Eliot's career as a playwright. In this play Eliot deals with the tragic life of Thomas Becket and with the events leading up his assassination. Becket finds peace and resolution in submitting himself to God's ordinance and this makes him happy. This is a mere reflection of Christian doctrine. Later on Eliot deals with contemporary subjects but he does not go beyond what he has already achieved. As a result, it is evident that Eliot is concerned more with the moral, psychological and religious aspects of life than with the problems of Modern Man. For this reason we cannot come to a conclusion that Eliot has a lasting influence on the twentieth-century English drama.